Dear Julia:

I was once told by a medium that there was the spirit of someone I had known in a past life attached to my aura. I developed my own means of communicating with him: I would ask him to move one of my feet for yes and the other foot for no. I communicated with him in this way for years, and he helped me a lot. Then all of a sudden, I couldn't get in touch with him anymore, and another spirit showed up instead. (I can sometimes hear spirits in my mind, and this one told me his name that way.) I asked him if he was there to harm me and he said no, and then I asked if he was there to help me and he said no in a very strange way. I was reluctant to communicate with this new spirit, and in fact, he has been wrong in his answers or sometimes he just doesn't make any sense. I will be asleep when he starts to move my foot, and I'll ask if he's trying to warn me about something, and he'll say yes, but then what he tells me proves to be wrong. Now I don't know if I should keep talking to him. Do you think I should continue to talk with this new spirit? - Sylvia

Dear Sylvia:

While I've never before heard of your particular method of spirit communication, it's basically a form of trance mediumship. It sounds like you came up with this method because you were curious about this attached spirit, which means you weren't spiritually prepared for mediumship and your intentions were vague. Naturally, this can lead to some problems.

Trance mediumship is inherently risky, for it involves inviting spirits to enter into and control your body. In my experience, higher level entities such as angels and spirit guides are not inclined to step into our physical bodies or control us in any way, so any spirit that does so is immediately suspect in my book. Further, if this spirit communication is happening TO you, as opposed to when you consciously seek it out, then it has grown beyond your control.

In addition to light spirits like guides and angels and dark spirits such as demons, the universe is full of all sorts of non-physical beings. We wouldn't label them benevolent or malevolent any more than we'd call the average person on the street essentially good or bad - but we also wouldn't invite these strangers into our homes, much less our bodies.

Our own vibration naturally attracts spirits of a similar nature, so if we're merely curious, we tend to attract curious, mischievous spirits. Here's what typically happens when experiments in spirit communication go wrong:

First someone begins to summon spirits out of curiosity, or because they want to find a way to fulfill some personal (ego-based) desire. They then attract earthbound spirits who are bored and looking for something to do. At first this may be a fun game, but soon the experimenter is asking the spirit/s for answers to every little question. This weakens the experimenter psychically, if for no other reason than she is constantly asking something outside of herself what she should do. In this way, she is giving her personal power away.

Eventually, the game goes wrong somehow. Perhaps the spirits guess wrong, something bad happens that the experimenter wasn't warned about, someone tells her that what she's doing is dangerous, etc. Then the experimenter gets nervous, which lowers her vibration and attracts a more frightening level of experience. Soon the experimenter is terrified - this is when dark and malevolent spirits can sweep in because they are a match to the person's vibration of terror.

It's important to note that there is nothing to be afraid of except for fear itself. It's being afraid or uncertain that makes us vulnerable. However, to use your psychic sensitivity to your benefit, you must have a strong mind and a strong will. If you are sensitive but mentally weak, it will be easy for spirits (and other people) to use you. This is what happens with many addicts who are influenced by earthbound spirits. They are sensitive enough to be influenced, but not strong and aware enough to resist. This is a common experience on the path to greater conscious awareness and control of our psychic sensitivity.

Also, you must rise above the dramas and desires of the ego, otherwise you'll attract spirits who are also caught up in all that craziness. To tap into a high level of spiritual guidance, we must come from a high vibration ourselves, which means we must pursue personal spiritual growth first and foremost.

Anyone who is caught up in fear or drama should steer clear of spirit communication and similar practices. This is why most psychics/mediums can't read for themselves, for if they're really worried about something, they won't be able to access a high level of guidance on it anyway. Further, when we're caught up in ego, it's hard to discern messages from Spirit from our own subconscious beliefs, fears and desires. It's ironic, but it's only when we no longer really need it that we can consistently access a high level of spiritual guidance for others.

It would appear that you're seeking psychic information from the wrong source. When I bring through loved ones in Spirit, I never ask worldly questions about work, financial and romantic matters, because it's highly unlikely that spirits will know the answer. Spirit communication with a loved one is like talking to someone who has moved to some remote region of the globe. They can call home to let us know they're okay, but they won't necessarily know what has happened to us since they left or what we should do about our problems. They tend to just reassure us that everything will be fine, that we're capable of handling whatever happens, and that they want us to be happy - the same things they would have said when they were alive.

I also don't ask spirit guides about such matters, because that's not their job either. You wouldn't go to a professor for advice on how to tie your shoes, and if you did, he wouldn't have time for you. Similarly, we can't call in spirit guides for advice on what color blouse we should wear today, or whether or not the cute guy in the next cubicle really likes us. Spirit guides also won't waste their time on the merely curious, for they must be available to help us with our more burning spiritual issues.

For psychic information about the future, there's no need to involve spirits at all: we just tap into the psychic stream and get a sense of which way it's flowing. While they're not necessary, all sorts of divination tools can help with this such as tarot cards, runes, pendulums, etc.

As for what you should do now, to evaluate any spirit, you must first and foremost trust how you feel. If you're feeling uncomfortable, there is probably a good reason. A high level spirit will make you feel so peaceful and uplifted that you'll have no doubt about it. It will communicate on deeper subjects, always seem to say just what is needed, and always respect you and your free will. Higher spirits never blame, accuse, disparage or judge - their messages are of love, compassion and understanding for everyone involved.

Also, know that you have complete control over your own being. Just as you have invited this spirit in, you can ask it to leave. You are always in control, for it's your own vibration that determines the quality of your experiences. You're obviously very psychically sensitive - you just need more knowledge and experience in order to gain control of your mediumship abilities.

- Julia